Getting your site noticed on the internet can be a very daunting and sometimes expensive experience, especially if it's a competitive market. This is why I decided to write this article to help and aid those struggling with or have just launched a new site and have limited or no budget set aside for marketing their website online.

Directories: Still a good way of helping you gain some traffic and help with ranking overall in the Search Engines. Do not submit, however, to Free-For-All (FFA) directories. These can do more harm than good. Either exchange reciprocal links (two-way) or if you can afford it then purchase a one-way link to your site (the last option works best if the directory is seen as trustworthy within your niche market).

Blogging: If you are leaving comments on other people's posts then for best effect stay within your community. Don't get nasty or controversial. If you are creating a Blog then generate interesting posts worth reading - don't go ripping off someone else's material. There are free basic Google and Wordpress Blogs that all is required is a sign-up and you can be posting your own Blog in minutes.

Social Bookmarking: Fundamental to quickly creating some buzz and interest about either your static website or a post in your Blog. Again, join communities and interact by posting comments and reviewing what others have previously submitted.

Article Submissions: A good way to help increase yourself as an expert within your targeted market is by submitting an article or a review of a particular service or product. Generate one way back-links to your site. Don't over submit your article and try and create at least two versions of the same article to stop the Search Engine penalizing it for duplicate content.

Forums: Again by contributing to online forums can build your stature as an expert in your field also forum signature links can be useful for back links to your site. Stay in context. Don't go joining a cookery forum and pointing your signature link to an IT website. Relevancy is the key with back links. If forums are not your thing then try Google or Yahoo Help Groups and promote your site this way.

Pay-Per-Click: Getting listed in the top pages can be achievable even if you have a small budget. All major search engines offer sponsored listings and the opportunity to have your site listed for highly competitive keywords at a price. Check with your hosting company or do a search on the internet for the PPC free vouchers that are on offer to help get you started.

SEO: If you can afford it then getting your site optimised is a high priority for anyone that owns a website. There are plenty of professional SEO Companies that will greatly increase your traffic and conversion rate. There are resources on the internet that will help get you started with SEO. But be warned! SEO is extremely time consuming and does require that you have some basic level of programming knowledge.

Video Marketing: Again a certain skill set is required to help construct and edit your video. There are a numerous internet sites and even search engines that you can easily submit your finished video to. Most successful videos run for between 30 and 60 seconds long and have a humour element to them.

E-Mail Marketing: Probably, not as effective as it once was, thanks to email spammers. Yet, it still has a conversion rate if done correctly. Try and co-ordinate your email template with your sites profile adding to that touch of professionalism.

Your own Websites Look and Feel: If your site looks tired and old compared to your competitions website then it probably is. People will click off your site if they don't like what they see or if it's too confusing to navigate around. The negativity factor can end a websites existence before its even got started.

Paul Steven is an SEO Consultant with 360innovate - a New Media and SEO Company offering Web Design Glasgow.